Prior art methods and associated devices for stuffing food products, particularly the stuffing of meat products, have suffered from various drawbacks and disadvantages. One such method, the butterfly method, is neither aesthetically pleasing nor uniform, as the stuffing material tends to spill out or not be accurately placed within the slit. The inconsistency and nonuniformity of the stuffed product is only exacerbated when the food product stuffed according to these methods is cooked or otherwise handled.
The rolling method, which involves rolling the stuffing material into the food product 25, suffers from similar disadvantages.
Another stuffing method, the coring method, requires the additional step of drilling out portions of the product. This creates a large amount of waste and a volumetric reduction in the surrounding food products.
Devices described in prior art patents, such as Ochs U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,688, are ill-suited for stuffing many food products, especially meats, and do not allow for aesthetic presentation of the stuffing with the food product.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to add value and weight by stuffing a product without the waste and associated expense of the coring method, and without the unsightly and inconsistent results of the butterfly and rolling methods.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a device introduces a continuous length of food stuffing into an elongated food product by making use of a tube with a slot formed therein, a cap removably attached to the tube, and a ram which is sized to be slidably received in the passage of the tube.
In a related method, the food product is stuffed with a continuous length of foodstuffing by inserting the continuous length of foodstuffing inside the slotted tube, the tube having the pointed cap at one of its ends. Then, the food product is penetrated at a selected point on the exterior of the food product using the pointed cap on the tube. The tube is then advanced relative to the food product until the cap exits the food product at a location substantially opposite the selected point of penetration. The operator then removes the cap from the end of the tube and inserts the ram into one of the ends of tube. The ram has a stop at that end of the ram which is first received in the slot of the tube, and is thus put against the food product In this way, the stop abuts against the food product at the penetration location and keeps both the food product and the foodstuffing in position while the tube is being withdrawn the food product.